The Living Corpse Doctor
Slowly. Very slowly.
I breathed so slowly it was as if I had stopped altogether.
I was perched in the thick leaves of a tree. Below, four Black Sangbang warriors were passing by.
At best, their martial skill was second-rate—first-rate at the lowest tier if I was generous.
I could beat them head-on without much trouble.
But I decided to wait.
Better to take them down silently.
One step. Two steps. Three.
They passed directly beneath me.
The moment the last of them moved past, I dropped soundlessly upside down.
Shaaaak!
Flipping in midair, my sword sliced across the last man's carotid artery.
"Keuk!"
Pssshhh!
A spray of blood burst from his neck as my blade was already swinging toward the two ahead.
"Wh—?!"
"Urgh…!"
Shiiick!
They turned their eyes toward me—but too late.
Their throats were already cut.
The lead warrior spun around, startled, his mouth opening wide—
"Enem—"
But before he could finish, my sword Black Wolf plunged deep into his heart.
Puuuk!
"Gkkhhk!"
His eyes dimmed as he collapsed. I drew the blade smoothly back out.
Stabbing and withdrawing from a body felt like cutting into tofu.
Once more, I marveled at the keenness of my new sword, then moved on.
I had yet to find any trace of the Living Corpse Doctor, and until then, I intended to cut down as many Black Sangbang men as possible.
A few hours earlier, after leaving the temple, we had split into two groups again.
Bae Jong-gwan stayed behind to guard the Living Corpse Doctor's children. The captain, Bisa-yeong, and I went to rescue the man himself.
Jong-gwan, this mission requires stealth. The three of us will go. You stay at the inn and guard his children. Make sure they don't get abducted again.
The captain added with a nod,
Yes. And since your internal force just increased drastically, you should spend time regulating it. I'll teach you a halberd technique to practice while we're gone.
Thanks to the elixirs, Bae Jong-gwan had gained over forty years of inner strength, finally meeting the conditions to step into the realm of first-rate experts.
The rest of us sped like the wind, reaching the border of Guizhou and Guangxi where the Black Sangbang was chasing Ma Jong-hwan.
He had fled southeast from Xingyin in Guizhou, toward Guangxi.
The land here was dense jungle and rolling hills, much like Yunnan. The Black Sangbang warriors were clearly struggling with the terrain.
That was why Master Gu Ju-yong had spread his forces wide, tightening a vast net around the area where Ma Jong-hwan might be.
We split into three, each taking a direction to shadow the Black Sangbang and search for the Living Corpse Doctor's trail.
While searching, cut down their numbers where you can. Let's open gaps in their encirclement.
Understood. Take care, both of you. Especially you, Sa-yeong—don't overdo it.
Heh, I'm a first-rate expert now. You don't have to worry so much, Captain.
That was why I was now moving silently, ambushing squads of Black Sangbang men.
No doubt the captain was devastating one group already.
Bisa-yeong worried me a little, but he had stepped firmly into the first-rate realm, and I had packed him with a full cycle of inner force. Even a master couldn't easily stop him from escaping now.
I spotted another group not far off.
This time, about a dozen of them—larger in number.
Flattening myself in the grass, I stalked closer like a tiger closing on prey.
The pinnacle of the Heavenly Wind Steps was to become one with the air itself. I hadn't reached that, but my movement made no sound at all.
I gauged their strength.
Most were second-rate, with a few first-rate low tiers—but one man, clearly the leader, was mid-tier first-rate.
I hesitated.
Killing them wasn't the problem.
But if I struck rashly and they managed to send a signal, it could bring nearby reinforcements.
As I considered, my eyes fell on the leather pouch at my waist.
A grin spread across my face.
Yes—why not take a small risk?
I wasn't alone. I had some very pretty friends.
I measured the distance, angled the pouch skyward, and loosened the mouth.
Two snakes shot out like arrows.
Pipip!
The Three-Colored Death Snakes I had raised ever since that day in the Poison Forest.
I watched them arc high, then plummet toward the Black Sangbang squad.
Perfect aim.
My beloved pets landed right in their midst.
Jeong Mo-su, captain of the Black Sangbang's Outer Hall, was at the end of his rope.
Everything was infuriating.
Days of chasing shadows with no sign of the Living Corpse Doctor. Their leader, who had dragged them into this jungle. The sweltering heat. The constant mosquitoes.
Nothing wasn't irritating.
So he vented his frustration on his men.
"Move faster, you useless dogs! You want to stay here forever?!"
Of course, he wasn't moving quickly himself. And he knew yelling only made his subordinates more miserable.
But he didn't care.
Then it happened.
Something dropped from the sky, landing beside his weary men.
One of them glanced at it—and screamed.
"Uaagh! A snake!"
"Wha—?!"
The squad leapt back in panic.
Two snakes coiled on the ground, flicking their tongues.
Even Jeong Mo-su flinched.
But his habit was to snap in annoyance first.
"Idiots! You're panicking over a couple snakes? Kill them already!"
"…."
His men scowled, clearly unhappy, but edged toward the snakes again.
Suddenly, the snakes shot forward like arrows.
Shwik!
Puk!
"Uaaaagh! Wh-what?!"
"They—they bit me?!"
By the time the men realized, the snakes' fangs had already sunk into two of them.
The bitten men collapsed almost instantly, faces turning black, foam bubbling from their mouths.
"D-did you see that?! They flew at us like arrows!"
"Wh-what?! They're dead already?!"
The squad, terrified, dared not approach.
Neither did Jeong Mo-su, though he barked orders from behind, eyes wide.
"Useless trash! Kill those snakes! You want to let your brothers die?!"
"B-but, Captain!"
Even though he had given the order, none of his men stepped forward. Jeong Mo-su turned on them with a furious glare.
"You bastards…?!"
And then he saw it.
A strikingly handsome young man had already slipped in behind his subordinates like a ghost, his sword flashing.
Shuaaaak!
His blade spread like a fan of light.
"Ugh?!"
"Ghk?!"
"Kkhuuaagh?!"
In an instant, as his sword scattered like the ribs of a fan, blood sprayed everywhere and Jeong Mo-su's men collapsed one after another.
"Wh-what?!"
Jeong Mo-su fumbled to draw his saber, panicked.
But the young man's sword, fresh from slashing his men's throats, reached him first.
Pusshhk!
The man's face surged closer at terrifying speed, filling his vision. A prickling sensation touched his neck—then suddenly, Jeong Mo-su saw the blue sky.
That was the last thing his eyes beheld.
I had lopped off the head of the apparent leader in one clean stroke. Smirking faintly, I studied the Black Wolf Sword.
Taking a man's head felt as smooth as cutting grass.
The blade gleamed—no trace of blood clung to it.
"This sword is a demon blade indeed."
Murmuring to myself, I glanced around.
I had tossed hidden weapons at three men farther away—I needed to confirm their deaths.
Satisfied, I saw all three had perished instantly.
Two killed by the Three-Colored Death Snakes, six by my sword, three by hidden weapons.
All silenced without a chance to raise an alarm.
Not bad.
Compared to the end of my past life, this was an even better result.
At last, I had surpassed my former self.
Not that I'd ever reached the pinnacle before—so what meaning did that hold? Still, at least in this life, I felt I might truly step into the supreme realm.
Assuming I don't die a sudden death first.
Sheathing Black Wolf, I walked over to the victims convulsing from snakebite. With a simple motion, I seized the snakes by the neck and tucked them back into their pouch.
Their habit of keeping their fangs buried until the prey's life fully ebbed made recovery easy.
"Well done, my pretties."
A smile tugged at my lips.
How could snakes be so beautiful?
More beautiful even than Ju Tae-gyeong, the so-called Sword Demon—who was utterly useless compared to my darlings.
After all, these beauties had once helped me bring down none other than the Blood-Drinking Demon Lord, Ji Gwang-ok.
Yes, they had tried to bite me at first. But what did the past matter?
All that mattered was how beautiful they were now.
Chuckling to myself, I began moving stealthily again.
If possible, I wanted to find the Living Corpse Doctor before the Black Sangbang did.
I pressed forward until, two hours later, a sharp sound broke the quiet.
Piiiiik!
The shrill blast of a signal whistle—urgent, coming from ahead.
They must have found the Living Corpse Doctor.
Pababak!
Abandoning stealth, I sprinted at full speed.
The scenery blurred past, the rush of wind reminding me just how much I had grown.
After running for only a short while, I saw them.
A crowd of Black Sangbang men hemming a lone figure against a cliff wall.
I slowed and hid myself.
Thirty or forty of them. And their leader—he was dangerous.
A man in his forties, clad in black robes, laughed boisterously as he spoke.
"Wahahahaha! So we finally caught you, Living Corpse Doctor! To think you put us through such trouble only to end like this! I ought to kill you on the spot—but our elder gave his orders. I'll just break your legs instead!"
Elder?
The Black Sangbang had four so-called "Heavenly Kings," all supreme experts, sworn brothers to Gu Ju-yong.
For a backwater sect, that was astonishing.
I had dulled to such matters at the war front, but in truth, supreme masters were like demigods in the provinces.
In Guiyang, where the Seonu Clan resided, there were a dozen supreme experts—my father, other sect masters—but that was a capital city.
Elsewhere, it was normal for one supreme master to dominate an entire region like a king.
Of course, the Nine Great Sects or the Martial Alliance have dozens, and the Demonic Heavenly Cult supposedly has hundreds—that's exceptional. That's why they're called the greatest powers under heaven.
Supreme experts were rare, precious beings in the martial world.
That was why when Cheong Yeon Soje saw five twenty-something supreme experts in the Flying Dragon Thirteen Generals, she had been stunned—saying even the Martial Alliance couldn't compare.
And why the heretical Blood Sect's arts, which offered a shortcut to supremacy, were so alluring to desperate martial artists.
But of all times… a supreme master finds the Living Corpse Doctor before me, here of all places—with forty men at his back—and my captain nowhere in sight?
I had no choice but to hesitate.
What do I do?
Even now, they were tightening the circle, driving the Living Corpse Doctor toward the cliff's edge.
If I left it alone, he would be caught. But no matter how I thought about it, I had no clever solution.
Then—
From behind, the way I had come, I sensed several figures rushing closer.
Their steps were heavy, second-rate fighters at best. Likely Black Sangbang men—three of them.
Panic struck.
Damn. They've found the corpses I left behind.
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
And in this worst possible moment, my presence was about to be revealed.
I even considered retreating, going back to regroup with Captain Seolpung.
Then suddenly—an idea struck.
Hmm. If I play this right…